SMILE

We are fortunate to have a strong SMILE program in Nyssa. Our community is one of the longest partners with SMILE. Teachers and students alike have been impacted by our work together.

SMILE is part of a statewide program that has been serving students for 29 years. Science & Math Investigative Learning Experiences (SMILE) is a precollege program at Oregon State University (OSU). SMILE Clubs are rural after-school programs that: Help minority students, students who are from low income households, and those who would be the first in their families to go to college gain STEM skills. It engages 4th-12th grade students statewide in science, math and engineering year round.

At the elementary level the SMILE club has worked as a force to help students envision a future with college in it. We learn and reinforce many science concepts with experiments and activities. We work to mentor students with college students, teachers, older academic peers, and community members to aspire to go to college. Through weekly meetings we work to build a strong tightly knit group of students that support each other to be the best students they can be in SMILE and in the classroom. Students with two or more years in a SMILE club graduate at 85%, and students with four or more years have a 95% graduation rate. SMILE can have an immense impact.

Learning about Science and Math in our clubs each year truly changes students’ in a positive way and opens up everyone's future. SMILE stands for Science and Math Investigative Learning Experience.

The mission of SMILE is to inspire and prepare minority, low-income, historically underrepresented, and other educationally underserved students, in mostly rural areas, to graduate from high school, enroll and succeed in higher education, and pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and math.